Google, the tech giant known for its search engine and a multitude of digital services, has recently been hit with a broad lawsuit. The suit alleges that Google scraped data from millions of users without their consent and violated copyright laws to train and develop its artificial intelligence products. The class-action suit against Google, its parent company Alphabet, and Google’s AI subsidiary DeepMind was filed in a federal court in California by Clarkson Law Firm, which had previously filed a similar suit against AI firm OpenAI.
The crux of the complaint is that Google has been surreptitiously stealing data shared on the internet by hundreds of millions of Americans to train its AI products such as its chatbot Bard. It further claims that Google has taken virtually the entirety of our digital footprint, including creative and copyrighted works, to build its AI products. Google's general counsel, Halimah DeLaine Prado, has called these claims baseless, stating that Google uses data from public sources, like information published to the open web and public datasets, to train the AI models behind services like Google Translate, responsibly and in line with their AI Principles.
The lawsuit comes at a time when several tech companies, especially those dealing with AI, are under scrutiny for their data practices. These companies include Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and OpenAI, all of whom have faced similar allegations over the misuse of personal data and copyrighted materials. The plaintiffs contend that Google misused the content they posted on social media and information shared on Google platforms to train its chatbot Bard and other generative AI systems.
The lawsuit is not the first time Google has been accused of data scraping. In a previous case, the company was accused of scraping song lyrics from Genius, a lyrics and commentary site. Although the court found that the scraping claims were credible, it did not consider it a copyright violation. The court's argument was that Genius isn't the actual copyright holder of the lyrics; the rights still belong to the musicians who wrote them.
The current lawsuit includes a diverse range of content that Google allegedly misused. This content includes photos from dating websites, Spotify playlists, TikTok videos, and even books. One of the plaintiffs, a best-selling author from Texas, claimed that Google copied her book in full to train their chatbot, Bard. The plaintiffs are asking the court to order Google to allow internet users to opt-out of its data collection and either delete the existing data or pay its owners fair compensation. They estimate that the company could owe at least $5 billion.
In response to these allegations, Google's general counsel, Halimah DeLaine Prado, stated that the company has been clear for years about its data usage. She reiterated that Google uses data from public sources to train the AI models behind services like Google Translate, responsibly and in line with their AI Principles. She further stressed that American law supports using public information to create new beneficial uses, and they look forward to refuting these baseless claims.
The lawsuit has sparked a debate about the ownership and control of data shared online. Ryan Clarkson, a partner at the law firm that filed the suit, argued that Google needs to create an opportunity for individuals to opt out of having their data used for AI training while still retaining their ability to use the internet for their everyday needs. This sentiment was echoed by the plaintiffs' attorney, who stated that Google does not own the internet, creative works, personal expressions, or anything else simply because it's shared online.
In conclusion, this lawsuit represents a significant moment in the ongoing conversation about data privacy and ownership in the digital age. It underscores the need for clear policies and practices around data usage, especially in the context of AI development. As AI continues to evolve and become more integrated into our lives, these issues will only become more critical. It remains to be seen how this lawsuit will unfold and what implications it will have for Google and the broader tech industry.